Lionel Messi to Barcelona back on the cards after Inter Miami fail to reach MLS playoffs
Lionel Messi could leave Inter Miami for Barcelona back in the January transfer window
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Lionel Messi was unable to propel Inter Miami to the MLS playoffs after his side suffered a 1-0 defeat to Cincinnati on Saturday night.
And reports now claim the Argentina international could be set for a blockbuster return to Barcelona.
Miami's defeat means they won't be competing in the next stage of the MLS - with their season now set to end this month.
Messi has dazzled ever since moving to America back in the summer transfer window, scoring 11 goals in 13 games.
Lionel Messi won the lot during his glittering spell at Barcelona
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But Catalan newspaper Sport say there's now a possibility the 36-year-old will return to Barcelona in January.
It's claimed Miami 'could be willing' to grant the veteran a temporary move away.
Messi joined Barcelona at the age of 13, with the forward becoming part of their famous youth academy La Masia.
The club helped the attacker with issues like his size, with the Argentina international given medication to help him grow.
Messi would be worth the fuss and would go on to become a legend of the club, perhaps the biggest of them all.
He helped the club win Champions League titles in 2009 and 2011, with Manchester United beaten in both finals in Rome and London respectively.
Messi was key as they won the famous trophy again in 2015 when Luis Enrique ruled the roost.
And he left Barcelona just over two years ago having scored 673 goals for the club - with the Catalan giants also securing nine league titles and seven Copa del Reys during his stint there.
Barcelona had hoped to re-sign Messi before his move to America.
But he opted to try a new challenge in America instead having been wooed by the advances of David Beckham, the club's owner.
Should Messi return to Europe on loan, he'd follow in the footsteps of a host of stars.
Beckham himself left LA Galaxy twice on a temporary basis, joining AC Milan in 2009 and 2010.
Thierry Henry went back to Arsenal on a two-month loan deal from New York Red Bulls in January 2012, having quit north London four years previously.
And Landon Donovan had loan spells at Everton during his period at LA Galaxy, too.
Meanwhile, Miami boss Tata Martino was quizzed on the prospect of Messi leaving the club after his side's defeat on Saturday night.
And the 60-year-old responded to questions about Messi flying to Barcelona by saying: "Is he going for fun? Maybe he's going to visit Barcelona.
"Other than that, I don't know anything else about it."
On his side's defeat, he added: "I honestly expected this season to go exactly the other way round.
"My expectations were to build a good squad, to shape the football, not to do too much in the Leagues Cup, to compete well in the Open Cup and to be able to qualify for the playoffs. The exact opposite happened.
"If you take into account that out of three possible tournaments, we have won one, it is a very important fact for us.
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Tata Martino was quizzed on Lionel Messi after Inter Miami failed to reach the MLS playoffs
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"The league has 28 teams, while Houston Dynamo won the US Open Cup, we won the Leagues Cup and whoever wins the tournament will be the third winner.
"There are 25 teams that won't have won. If we look at it from that point of view, we're happy.
"We have a lot of work to do for what's to come. It's true that we have two games left, but now we are working for what is to come.
"I think we as a club have made good decisions in the summer and I think we have to be precise again in the analysis of how we are going to face the season ahead."